Soul Reaver 2

Starting where the previous game left off (even going so far as to use a redone version of that game's end sequence as an intro) Soul Reaver 2 drops you head first into Raziel's quest for revenge against his vampire maker Kain.

The game looks far better than the original even though that is much to do with this being the series' first outing on the PS2. The gameplay and controls are still as intuitive as before (tomb raider take note) and the fabulous involving storyline is more apparent than ever. The story takes Raziel from Nosgoth's past to its near future and ancient history. I won't say more as the story rally should be seen and played to appreciate its epic scale.

The voice over work is again worthy of broadway theatre with Michael Bell, Simon Templeman and Rene Auberjonois doing outstanding work as Raziel, Kain and Janos respectively.

The only gripe about this game is that if you played the first one to completion you may find this a bit too easy and quick to complete. Don't let that stop you though. If you own a PS2 or a fairly high spec PC then buy this. You will not regret it and you will go back to the story again and again.

While the enhanced graphics of the PS2 have given Soul Reaver 2 one advantage over its predecessor, it falls short in every other aspect.

The plot is not nearly as engaging as before. There are one or two nice twists, but for the most part, you'll wonder why you're going where you are.

The inventive boss battles of the first game are long gone. Instead, you're faced with endless battles with what essentially boils down to only 4 enemies.

The puzzles have been greatly dumbed down as well. Now, they amount to no more than taking an item from point A to point B.

If you simply MUST play this game....rent it.

I am the most cynical, pedantic and down right pickiest person when it comes to my entertainment. To get an idea just how much, read my "Superman Returns" thread.

Taking that in mind, my review of this game is as follows. Soul Reaver 2 can be described if necessary in only one word, PERFECT. Story, graphics and playability are unmatched by any other game that was around at the time. Soul Reaver was amazing but had far too much "Tomb Raider esquire" block pushing. The sequel however, much like Tomb Raider 2, took that on board and replaced a lot of this with thought out puzzles and gripping action.

This is one of those rare occasions when game developers deserve your money.

But me being me i have to say something critical. To really get the most out of this game, play the PC version. Playstation owners are limited by a set resolution and poor filtering.

So in conclusion, get a decent PC and then buy this game.

After playing the original Soul Reaver, I wasn't very enthusiastic about the sequel, given the sad and chronic habit that sequels have of not living up to their predecessors. Much to my suprise and delight, Soul Reaver 2 not only met my expectations, it surpassed my hopes. At most, I expected a good conclusion to the abrupt ending of the original. What I got in addition to that was an engaging roleplaying game, some of the most beautiful graphics I've ever seen on a console, and a story that got me incredibly excited for the next installment.

The game, to be fair, is a little disappointing in two respects. First, it has a feeling of being unfinished. Not surprising, as the production was somewhat rushed to switch the technical platform from the PSX to the PS2. In the game, there are four elemental forges that Raziel activates, and there looks to be three additional ones set up in the game that seemed to not make it under the wire. Secondly, the game's running time is rather short. Most players seem to have finished the game in about ten hours, give or take, where the original Soul Reaver took much longer.

But to balance that out is incredible graphic artwork - Nosgoth in its past eras is brought to life in a way matched by no other game I've seen. The voice acting is unparalleled: Michael Bell, Simon Templeman, Paul Lukather, Richard Doyle, Anna Gunn and especially Rene Auberjunois have given their characters a depth of vitality and realism that make the experience even more engaging and make the player forget for a while that it's just a game. Everything accomplished by the technical and artistic teams, however, have served to provide a beautiful setting for a truly fascinating tale, a story that has clearly been in the works since the very beginning of the series and is just as clearly not fully revealed... and I'm not going to reveal it here. You're going to have to buy the game just like I did.

A thousand words still isn't enough to say how excellent this game is. The voice acting in this game is truly excellent and each and every line is spoken with heart and feeling, along with an excellent and well thought out script, you just don't want to stop playing. Which is a shame, because the game is actually quite short. Also, the ending is left at yet ANOTHER cliff hanger, which leaves you wanting to play the third installment right away.

The graphics look excellent and the lip syncing is perfect, the facial expressions on each characters face can be clearly seen and you know exactly what their current emotion is, adding to the cinematic style of game play. Which, by the way, is excellent.

Each and every character in the game is regarded with the utmost detail, you have to play this game to see what a great job Crystal Dynamics have done with this game.

The battle system is also something to marvel at, It's so eloquently laid out so that you can get to grips with it within minutes. It's also fun to fight your enemies as while you're in battle with them they shout out things at you like:

''I'll send you to hell vampire!''

''I'll free your soul!''

''Return to hell!''

The characters have so much depth and personality, that at times you forget they're just graphics with people doing their voice. This game also contains about as much special features as a 2 disc DVD film (The features are earned by completing the game).

The only bad thing I have to say about this game is that the save system is a bit frustrating, not the actual saving, but the various dungeons/temples are quite challenging (which is good,) but, unlike in Soul Reaver, which I only bought after playing through Soul Reaver 2, it doesn't save your progress in the dungeons, you cannot save anywhere like you could in the first Soul Reaver.

There are a range of power-ups and modifications you can make to your primary weapon, the soul reaver, by completing the various forges, you can add elements to your reaver to help you in other situations (like melting ice with the fire reaver, for instance) and to kill enemies with.

As i said this game has so much depth, and each and every cinematic is excellent and professionally laid out (Soul Reaver 2's directing is considered movie quality) which is most probably where you would get most of the reply value, to view these excellent cinematics over and over again.

There are practically no loading times in Soul Reaver either, you can literally just turn on your PS2 and begin playing in minutes, so if you love your games with great story lines, graphics, game play and an all-round good time, then I advise you to and get this quick!